Man Held In Rape Of 7-year-old

October 28, 1999|By Henry Pierson Curtis of The Sentinel Staff

Social workers now have custody of a 7-year-old girl raped last weekend after the child's mother left her alone to take a walk at 3 a.m.

Orange County investigators charged John Drummond, 30, a friend of the mother, with sexual battery on a child younger than 12. Drummond told Orange County deputies he didn't remember anything that happened early Saturday.

``He told me this isn't the first time he has woken up in a drunken state in handcuffs and not known what he's done,'' sex crimes Detective Matt Irwin said.

The child summoned medical attention for herself about 4:30 a.m. by knocking on a neighbor's door on West Lancaster Road. Her injuries were similar to, but more extensive than, the tearing suffered occasionally in childbirth, doctors told Irwin.

The child told Irwin she was threatened that if she struggled, she would be smothered. The doctors at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children & Women found broken blood vessels in the child's eyes. Broken vessels are signs of near smothering, Irwin said. The child was released from the hospital Monday.

Arrest records show Drummond was arrested in Chicago in 1991 on a felony charge of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. The case's disposition could not be learned Wednesday.

The mother's parenting abilities are being investigated by the DCF. She did not return home Saturday until after her child had been hospitalized, the Sheriff's Office said.

Drummond was being held without bail Wednesday in the Orange County Jail. The rape charge carries a potential sentence of life in prison.